Walsall Council provides update on future of former Bloxwich Hospital
The deputy leader of Walsall Council has provided an update following speculation about the future of the former Bloxwich Hospital site.
The premises, still owned by the Black Country NHS Trust, was last used as a psychiatric facility before its closure in February 2025.
The sale of the Reeves Street site in Walsall is part of an agreement that has allowed the trust to secure funding for the newly opened Older People’s Inpatient Unit at Dorothy Pattison Hospital.
Since its closure, social media has been flooded with unsubstantiated claims that the building will be converted into ‘luxury’ accommodation for ‘illegals’.
However the trust said it was committed to ensuring any future use for the site will ‘align with the needs of the community’.
Currently, the building has no existing planning permissions and no live planning applications are under assessment by the council for any alternative use.
Ward member for Bloxwich West, Councillor Michael Coulson, asked for the update at a full council meeting on Wednesday (July 30).
Deputy leader Councillor Adrian Andrew responded: “The trust, after interventions by officers, myself and Councillor Flint, are committed to ensuring that any future use for the site aligns with the needs of our community.
“They are working closely with us now to support the disposal and deliver a scheme that meets local needs.
“Any forthcoming proposal will be subject to a planning application and associated formal statutory consultation process.”
Council Andrew said he has been ‘quite firm’ with the chief executive of the trust about its responsibility to secure the building.
He added: “Organisations which own public property need to make sure it is secured and that they are not causing a problem to the communities they represent, otherwise it just passes the bill on.
“Whether that’s to the fire service because of an arson attack, or the police, or the council because we have to start taking enforcement action.
“I’ve been quite firm about their responsibility as a public sector organisation to the people that we all represent.”
